Board of Directors

Ajamu Dillahunt (Co-Chair)

Ajamu Dillahunt is Outreach Coordinator at the N.C. Justice Center in Raleigh, N.C. Before joining the Justice Center, for 18 years Ajamu served as President of the Raleigh Area Local of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), where he was also Director of Research and Education for the North Carolina Council of the APWU. Ajamu also sits on the National Coordinating Committee of the Black Workers for Justice. He holds a Masters Degree in African Studies.

Kieran Walsh Taylor (Co-Chair)

Kerry is an instructor in oral history at the Center for Documentary Studies in Durham, N.C. and a doctoral candidate in History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Before returning to graduate school he worked as a newspaper reporter, a community organizer, and an editor at the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University. He holds a Masters Degree in Southern Studies.

MaryBe McMillan

A North Carolina native, MaryBe McMillan is Secretary-Treasurer of the North Carolina AFL-CIO. MaryBe has previously worked for the Common Sense Foundation, the Rural School & Community Trust, and the Union Community Fund. Prior to becoming Secretary-Treasurer, she worked as a program staff person at the North Carolina State AFL-CIO. She holds a Masters Degree in Sociology.

Pam Spaulding

A native of Durham, N.C., Pam Spaulding is the Information Technology Manager at Duke University Press. Prior to working at Duke, Pam worked for Africa News Service and the Forest History Society. Pam's nationally-acclaimed blog, Pam's House Blend, received a 2005 Weblogs Award for Best Gay and Lesbian Blog nationally. She also writes for the popular blog Pandagon.

Jane Stein

Jane Stein is owner and business manager of CHICLE, the Chapel Hill Institute for Cultural and Language Education in Chapel Hill, N.C. Jane holds a doctorate in Public Health from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she has taught research methods and seminars in international health. Jane has worked as a research consultant in Africa, Asia, Mexico, and Central America.

Dr. Timothy Tyson

Dr. Timothy Tyson is Visiting Professor of American Christianity and Southern Culture, Duke Divinity School and Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Documentary Studies. A native of eastern North Carolina, Tim is the author of "Blood Done Sign My Name," a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Southern Book Award for nonfiction. He is also author of "Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power" and co-editor with David Cecelski of "Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy." He holds a Ph.D. in History and serves as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians.

Project Advisors

The following serve on the Advisory Boards of the Institute’s Bob Hall Investigative Action Fund and/or the Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch project.

Prof. Joe Atkins
Department of Journalism, University of Mississippi and columnist, The Clarion Ledger

Julian Bond
Chair, NAACP

Steve Bradberry
Lead Organizer, New Orleans ACORN

Carlos Guerra
Columnist, San Antonio Express-News

Pronita Gupta
Research Director, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy

Bob Hall
Co-Director, Democracy North Carolina

Jim Hightower
Author and radio host

Naomi Klein
Syndicated columnist and author, No Logo

Darryl Malek-Wiley
Louisiana Environmental Justice Organizer, Sierra Club

Sangita Nayak
Policy/Communications Director, Praxis Project

Angie Newsome
Reporter, Asheville Citizen-Times

Tram Nguyen
Executive Editor, ColorLines

Dr. William Quigley
Prof., Loyola University New Orleans Law School and Director, Poverty Law Clinic

Lisa Seitz Gruwell
Political Director, Skyline Public Works